Galaxy Gaming for Life

[Galaxy Gamer]

Updated my challenge log with my first week's results. I've resolved to take steps toward bettering my health and jump-starting my creative career, with tangible results by the end of the challenge period. So far, so good with most of my quests, but there's just one short week down and five long ones to go. Lots of potential for backsliding if I'm not careful.

 

Today I noticed that US News and World Reports has ranked 32 diet plans with the same level of detail they use to famously rank universities. In the overall rankings, the Paleo diet tied for last place. That stunned me, because the NF community seems to be overwhelmingly pro-Paleo, and it does make intuitive sense to look at what our ancestors ate for such a huge majority of time that our species walked the Earth. So why did US News's distinguished panel of experts rank Paleo behind diets from Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig, behind ones that are obscenely high in fat and ones that are nearly fat-free, behind ones that are all vegetable and ones that are all meat, behind ones that require skipped meals and ones that have you weigh everything you eat, behind ones that tie into reality game shows and ones are backed by celebrities, behind diets from Asia, diets from the Mediterranean, and diets from South Florida--why do cavemen get no respect?

 

Looking forward to seeing the inevitable rebuttals.

[Galaxy Gamer]

Because I'm measuring in pounds, and approaching 200 of them from above, I'm now into a range of weights where my scale has become a time machine. When I step on and see, for example, 211.2, I can't help thinking, "2112...wasn't there a TV show set in that year?" (Answer: Not that I can find, although it was the title of a damn fine Rush album.)  As fun as it is to lose two or three pounds in a week, I have even more fun thinking of it as travelling back in time by two or three decades. And as of my weigh-in this morning, I have finally reached the 21st Century: 209.8 pounds for 2098!

• I will reach a year within my expected lifetime, according to this life expectancy calculator, by losing another 4.6 pounds (Losing weight should push that number even further into the future, but the Life Expectancy Calculator doesn't take that into account).
• I will reach the present day by losing 8.4 pounds.
• I will be able to party like it's 1999 by losing 9.9 pounds.
• I can witness the year I was born by losing 12.8 pounds.
• I can warn JFK to stay away from the Texas Book Depository by losing 13.4 pounds.
• I can warn Abe Lincoln to stay away from Ford's Theater by losing 23.4 pounds.

There's got to be a movie treatment in this idea...

 

Weekly Progress toward 50 Pounds:

16%

16%

21%

21%

26%

26%

33%

33%

36.4%

36.4%

41.2%

41.2%

46%

46%

50%

50%

56.4%

56.4%

[Galaxy Gamer]

Mark Sisson of Mark's Daily Apple has a pro-Paleo take-down of the latest US News and World Reports diet rankings that I mentioned the other day. That didn't take long.

 

Mark makes a point that the panel outright dismisses several studies supporting the thesis that a Paleo diet reduces cardiovascular disease risk factors, and I'm with him on this. Even if the studies really are objectively too small, too short, or too few to be conclusive, they do represent the best scientific evidence available and should be taken into account. Many of the experts on the panel are in a position to conduct studies on their own terms, if they felt they could do better, but instead they have chosen to take unsupported positions contrary to the best available data.

 

Mark doesn't like that the expert panel found "no way to tell" whether people could lose weight on a Paleo diet. He phrases it in terms of semantics, but a stronger argument is that the experts are again ignoring clinical and anecdotal evidence that leans toward a conclusion that people can and have been satiated with fewer calories on Paleo and can and have lost weight. That makes two areas in which the panel actively ignores the best available evidence, establishing a pattern of willful ignorance, although this time at least they don't come down on an entirely unsupported side of the argument.

 

But Mark's weakest point for me is that the panel cites possible health risks from shunning grains and dairy. Mark lists a wide variety of foods that are on the Paleo diet, but personal preference is going to limit that list considerably--personally, I don't eat pork or most shellfish due to religious dietary restrictions, and have never developed a taste for such nutritionally dense foods as kale, sardines, organ meats, and seaweed. If I went long-term Paleo without those things in my diet, would I be missing out on necessary nutrients like calcium? Quite possibly, unless I continuously made a very conscious effort to somehow make up the deficiency. At least in this case, the experts have a point that Mark can't totally rebut. 

 

Does the panel's identification of one potential difficulty excuse their demonstrable anti-science bias in other areas, or they way they seem to have applied a different evidence standard to the Paleo diet than to other diets? Probably not. I'm not ready to put Paleo at the top of my personal list, but I don't think it should be at or near the bottom, either. I'm putting it somewhere in the middle for now--something I'm interested in learning more about and hoping to see as the topic of more vigorous studies.

[Galaxy Gamer]

My in-laws say I look great, that I've lost quite enough weight already, that the weight is coming off too fast, and that I should probably stop now.

 

My response:

 

1. While I do appreciate positive feedback on my appearance, I'm losing weight primarily for my health. I want to feel better, have more energy, and live longer. Looking better will be just a side benefit, and even there I still have room for improvement. Although I've tightened by belt by four notches and need a whole new wardrobe, I still have a quite noticeable paunch that hangs out over my belt. 

 

2. I'm less than halfway through Phase 3 of my 5-phase plan and it's working well for me, so don't jinx it!  I have gone from being BMI-obese to merely BMI-overweight, and will still be BMI-overweight after losing an additional 22 pounds. I will press on to reach BMI-healthy and then establish a long-term plan to remain within the BMI-healthy range forever.

 

3. I've been losing a fairly steady 2.5 pounds per week, which is a half pound more than the recommended maximum. I agree that this may be slightly too fast and that I should plan to slack off a bit after this current week. 1.5 to 2 pounds a week for 16 additional weeks will take me to my goal weight in time for my next medical appointment.

 

4. I am never going to "stop." What I am going to do is "transition" into a healthy and sustainable lifestyle. That's where the healthy habits and continuous improvement plan come in. I've just never done this before, so I'm still working out the details.

 

Or at least that's what I should have said. What I actually said was something like, "Thanks, and noted."  In person, I'm a man of few words.

[Galaxy Gamer]

My parents have officially noticed that I've lost weight--though they might have been tipped off that I was on a diet when I ordered a salad from the pizza shop. My mother says I look as thin as I did when I went away to college, but with less hair. Would I give up a few pounds to have my hair back? It's an interesting question, although the empty follicles are an entirely cosmetic issue, while the fat cells are a drain on my health. It would save me money on hats, though...

 

As of this morning, I weigh 30 pounds less than I did ten weeks ago. I think I need to declare quick-start mode over and fire the retro rockets. I just haven't figured out how yet.

 

 

 

Weekly Progress toward 50 Pounds:

16%

16%

21%

21%

26%

26%

33%

33%

36.4%

36.4%

41.2%

41.2%

46%

46%

50%

50%

56.4%

56.4%

61.2%

61.2%

[Galaxy Gamer]

I bought a set of body fat percentage calipers and a real waist circumference tape measure (because the metal tape measure is great for building bookshelves but a bit uncomfortable to wrap around my midsection). My waist is now about 39.75 inches, which takes me out of the dangerous "over 40 inches" category that correlates with increased chance of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Over the past 11 weeks I've moved myself from the "Very High" risk category down to the "Increased" category with an ultimate goal of normalizing my status.

 

Check it out:
 

The calipers are a different story. Despite losing over 30 pounds, I still have too much subcutaneous fat on my belly for the calipers to give me a useful read on my body fat percentage. In other words, I can still pinch more than an inch--1.65 inches (42 mm), to be precise. The chart that came with the calipers basically laughed at me and said to come back when the belly pinches are under 36mm. I'm also tracking my blood pressure weekly and finding that I'm still borderline-high despite my weight loss and medication. There's still a way to go, if ever, before I can be off the meds and that's a bit depressing.

[Galaxy Gamer]

I lost less weight this week by design, in order to transition into a more healthy rate of weight loss. I exceeded my calorie budget at least three days, including a stomach-stretching binge at the Chinese buffet. What's going to do me in is late night snacking though, if I can't get it under control.

 

[Galaxy Gamer]

There's always some reason to go off the diet every week, and there always will be. Holidays, family meals, the sudden appearance of a Chinese buffet where no Chinese buffet had been before, and this weekend--the Super Bowl. Even just shopping on Super Bowl Sunday is a risk, because the supermarket has all their best samples out and a helpful clerk will toss you a mini-hotdog in puff pastry coating as soon as you step through the door. (You're expected to spike the empty plate in the trash barrel and do a touchdown dance afterward.)

 

I slacked a bit on recording every meal and snack. I slacked a bit on exercise. Somehow, by the grace of the bathroom scale gods, I still lost two pounds. I'm happy to take them.

 

 

I'm working on being all right with splurge meals or even splurge days that get averaged out by a larger number of good days, and with having the good days be my new normal, and with resisting open bags of snacks, especially at night. Now that my Quick Start period is over, the battle has become more intense for sure.

[Galaxy Gamer]

I'm coming to the end of Week 13 in my overall "get fit" plan--the halfway point of my six-month program. It's a good place to assess my progress so far and the goals I am still working toward.

 

I expect to weigh in tomorrow around 34 pounds down from my starting point with 16 pounds left to go. Tracking calories has made me a lot more mindful of what I eat, so I expect to soon be able to stop keeping track as much and still lose/maintain my weight. Already I can track breakfast and lunch and know what I should eat for dinner to still be good for the day.  Exercise is something I'm still working on in terms of scheduling and motivation but I am moving more than I did before and I feel pretty good.  I'm also aware that I need to get more sleep than I have been in order to be as productive and focused as possible--perhaps next challenge will address that.

 

When I first got the big scare about my weight, blood pressure, liver function, and triglycerides, I went straight to the Weight Watchers Online website and signed up for three months. It was quick and easy, which is exactly what I needed in a program that started immediately and produced fast results. But Weight Watchers is not the place to go for nutrition information beyond the more basic "eat stuff from this list because we say so" level. I went elsewhere for my informational needs and found sites like Mark's Daily Apple, which has all the detail I was looking for. Three weeks in, the points tracker stopped working for me and my friend on multiple computers and in multiple browsers, so I was forced to go elsewhere for food tracking. That's when I found that LiveStrong tracked calories, fat, protein, sodium, and more--and it was free. The Weight Watchers forum also stopped working for me, so I found NerdFitness, which was another free upgrade. All that I was paying Weight Watchers for--tracking, community, information, and recipes--can be had elsewhere for free, so I will not be renewing my membership. 

[Galaxy Gamer]

At the end of Week 13, I've lost 34.8 pounds. Yay! But I felt that twinge between my shoulder blades again when I was doing push-ups (or my version of push-ups) and my back is still aching as I'm sitting and writing this update. I won't be getting my share of exercise until this condition clears up, and I know that's not the way to get healthy.

 

[Galaxy Gamer]

We had house guests this week, Friday through Monday, which entailed eating out and partying with ice cream and cake. I've been slacking, snacking, and not really tracking, and as a result I am UP for the first time. Up six tenths of a pound. If I kept that up, I'd be back to my old starting weight in about a year.

 

 

I was hoping to reach a point where I could stop tracking so closely and still not do so bad, just following my instincts. Apparently, I'm not there yet. This week, I'm cracking down (sigh) again.

[Galaxy Gamer]

I've gotten back on the horse after a truly horrendous Week 14. This morning my scale read 200 even during an unofficial weigh-in, which is either dead wrong or indicates that my Tuesday number was dead wrong. On any given day, my bathroom scale can not be trusted or believed. I just have to believe that over time, the general downward trend on average is real.

 

Also today, I read Steve's blog entry, "Are We There Yet?" and it resonated with my own personal journey. My long term goal is to get healthy and stay healthy, and I'm using goals, numbers, and benchmarks to do it. Most notably, I'm using weight and BMI as my proxies for health, simply because it's easier and less expensive to step on a scale each week than to get a new blood test each week. If I can lose 50 pounds between doctor's appointments that are six months apart, I will be able to correlate the results in all my test scores.

 

But then what?

 

I've asked myself that question, and haven't come up with a good answer, probably because I was thinking in terms of "before, during, and after." This is much to be said about shifting frames of thought so that "during" never ends.  That's what I like about the six-week challenges, one after another, with none of them being the "last one" before a destination. There is no after, only a break before the next round.

[Galaxy Gamer]

Let me quote myself from late December:
 

Shopping for new clothes isn't normally something I enjoy, but I do love downsizing. I bought a pair of 38-waist jeans  that are the first 38's I've worn in years! It was gratifying because I'd just learned about another number that I need to track, because it seems that a 40-inch-or-more waist puts men at a higher risk for developing metabolic syndrome. With my 38's on, I was out of a danger I didn't know I'd been in!
 
Except that I'm not. My gut, where it hangs out above my waistband, turns out to be 42 inches across. Still! Even after I've lost 20 pounds and notched the belt inward twice! It must have been 44 inches or so when I began, which means I probably still have 20 to 30 pounds to go before I'm in safe gut territory.
 
So I guess what I'm saying is that I'm picking up more knowledge, tracking an additional health variable, and setting yet another goal. Instead of just needing to lose 30 pounds, I also need to lose 3 more inches of waist circumference.

 

 

I'm now at 39 inches of waist circumference, so...achievement unlocked and risk averted! At the same time, those new 38-waist Levi's 501's I was writing about are now too big on me. They didn't even last me two months. Based on that lesson, I'm not getting too attached to my new 36's.

[Galaxy Gamer]

I've created a standing desk in my study, after reading about the health hazards of sitting for long periods of time, including: heart disease, lowered metabolism, high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, overactive pancreas, insulin resistance, increased risk of cancer, muscle degeneration, crooked spine, decreased range of motion, decreased balance, foggy brain function, strained vertebrae, sore back, sore shoulders, herniated lumbar disks, swollen ankles, varicose veins, deep vein thrombosis, and osteoporosis. Considering the fact that I've been sitting about twelve hours a day for years, it's more than a little disconcerting.

 

A small Ikea table on top of my desk raises my laptop to a comfortable standing level and voila! A healthier office environment! My back is feeling better already.

[Galaxy Gamer]

By the way, my weight loss is back on track after an intense week of being good.

 

 

I lost an average of 1.5 pounds per week for February, which is right where I want to be. The pounds aren't coming off as quickly or as easily as they were early on, but I am still making steady progress toward my goal and approaching a few milestones. First, the magical 200-pound barrier. Once I drop below that, I never want to look down at my scale and see a number that begins with 2 ever again!  Then at 198, I will have lost 40 pounds total. That will also match my lowest weight of the 21st Century, and the start of my next phase of weight loss.

[Galaxy Gamer]

Yesterday morning, my scale registered under 200 pounds for the first time, but it was an unofficial inter-week non-weigh-in. This morning, I was back up to 200.4. Another ego boost came from discovering Dr. Stephen Hall's alternate take on BMI, under which I am only "marginally overweight" instead of just plain regular "overweight."  Unlike the current CDC/WHO charts, Dr. Hall takes into account age, gender, and height, and plans to someday also incorporate musculature, race, and genetics in a future version.

[Galaxy Gamer]

I've just installed F.lux onto my computer. It's supposed to filter the blue from the screen after sunset so help enable better neurotransmitter levels and better sleep. I haven't had any trouble getting to sleep, but I figure it couldn't hurt and a neurotransmitter boost might be nice.  My screen definitely seems more salmon colored than before, so it's doing something.  Has anyone tried this program, and has it been good for you?

[Galaxy Gamer]

At the end of Week #16, I have joined the under 200 club! With my weigh-in of 198.2 pounds, I have just about matched my 21st Century low. I have lost about 40 pounds total, for an average of 2.5 pounds per week.

 

 

The first red trend line in the chart above represents 2.5 pounds per week. The second, less-steep line is about 1.5 pounds per week, which has been my average for the past six or so weeks, and a more realistic goal to continue going forward. The first week's loss, I'm told, is usually the largest because it is mostly water weight, so it's a statistical outlier. 

 

My BMI is below 27, I'm tightening my belt another notch, and feeling great!

[Galaxy Gamer]

More proof that there's all kinds of health is an article on "cyber health" from LinkedIn.

 

First, protecting email with two factor authentication (2FA) is apparently vital because an email hack can compromise everything, considering how much information can be scraped and how much mischief can be done. So I've signed up for that, and bricked my phone for an hour in the process.

 

Strong and unique passwords for everything else can be had with a product like LastPass, which I've also signed up for and have been using, with some additional amount of frustration. But since I can't keep a hundred different strong passwords straight in my head, it seems like a worthwhile effort.

 

Finally, I signed up with PwnedList (to get a heads-up if my email is ever compromised) and SafeShepherd to pull back some personally identifiable information that's already out there. It can't nuke my Google and Facebook records, but every bit counts.

[Galaxy Gamer]

I worry that I've hit a wall. The last time I weighed 198 pounds was ten years ago, on a previous diet that consisted of South Beach eating and elliptical/treadmill at the gym. That time, I dropped 25 pounds to get to 198--faster and easier than dropping 40 pounds this time--but then I stalled. I was still eating right and working out but the scale never moved downward again. Eventually, I stopped stepping on the scale and then let the rest of my lifestyle unravel. 

 

My scale is digital but it oscillates and may give multiple results, up to four or five pounds apart, within the space of a few minutes. Today it told me that I was back up to 200.0 before settling in at 198.6. My benchmark is to not trust the scale until it registers the same number three times in a row. I've been in the 198's for a few days now, so I suspect that's accurate, but so far the scale has never dipped into the 197's even to give me a wacky result I know is wrong.

 

Is it the scale, or is it me? 

[Galaxy Gamer]

Week #17 was a bad week for me. I actually gained a pound, and I'm not sure how. I tracked calories as well as I ever have, didn't eat any more than I have been, worked out and stayed active, but somehow my progress has stalled. On the bright side, I've stalled at a point that's almost 40 pounds lighter than at the start, but I don't want to backslide. I want to progress!

[Galaxy Gamer]

It's the end of Week 18!

 

At my weigh-in this morning, the scale read 196 pounds even. It's hard to handle these yo-yo results from week to week, but at least I'm still trending in the right direction and I've broken through the plateau I worried I might be on. I now weigh less than I did during my last weight-loss program, and less than at any point in the past 15+ years. I'm also at the 50th percentile for my age and height in the WHO-CDC database, which means I'm now at an average weight.

 

Anything I lose now will put me "below average" among my peers but still technically overweight. If I can lose another 8 pounds, I'll be down to my 1995 weight--where I was just after law school before I put on 20 pounds while cramming for bar exams. I'm 10 pounds away from reaching the healthy range of BMI, which is the main milestone I'm shooting to reach before my next physical in May. That will also represent my 20-year low. The results of my physical will then determine whether I keep losing weight or switch into lifestyle maintenance mode.

 

 

My wife is heading in the other direction, putting on baby weight. Right now, she needs all the calories she can get, but she promises that once she delivers, she will join me in better eating and healthier lifestyle.

[Galaxy Gamer]

Oatmeal. Is it healthy, or just better than other cereal options? I have no idea, but while I've cut cereal out of my diet, I'm still having the occasional bowl of oatmeal. This morning, I tried McCann's Irish Oatmeal because it had a better nutritional profile than the low sugar Quaker packets and whoa, was it bland! But with some Splenda, banana slices, and walnuts, it actually made a pretty good tasting breakfast that filled me up. I won't be making it an every day food, but I think it will be good when I want to change things up from yogurt or hard boiled eggs. Variety is nice.

[Galaxy Gamer]

Here's the scenario. I step on the bathroom scale this morning for my weekly weigh-in, and it registers 196.8--a gain of nearly a pound from last week. I step off and on again, and it still registers 196.8. A third time, I also get 196.8. My general rule to this point has been to take the first number that comes up three times in a row, no matter how many times it takes, but I know I've had a good week and my number should be going down, not up.

 

The fourth time I step on the scale, it reads 194.4--over a pound and a half loss from last week, and over two pounds different from just a few seconds before. I get the same number on the fifth and sixth tries, so now I have two "equally reliable" numbers that are way far apart. Do I average them to 195.6, or look for a tie-breaker? Do I toss out this scale and get a new one?

 

I went with the tie-breaker option, figuring that my Wii Fit balance board has got to be at least as reliable as a regular scale. The Wii Fit says I weigh 193.6, plus two pounds for clothing allowance, minus the actual (unknown) weight of my pajamas. So I must weigh between 193.6 and 195.6 pounds. The 196.8 number is outside that range. The 195.6 average would require my pajamas to have no mass, which would violate the known laws of physics. The 194.4 number is right in the middle of the range. Since I don't have the resources to write a paper on the new physics implications of 195.6, I'm going with 194.4.

 

Long story short, I had a pretty good week.  I'm now below average weight for men of my height and age, and about ten pounds away from having a healthy BMI. I've also had some dental work done that will improve the health of my mouth.

[Galaxy Gamer]

Today the scale said 193.6, which makes me feel better about taking the lower number for my official weigh-in yesterday. I'm not putting much faith in the scale these days. In a 24-hour period I can get a number in the high 190s, a number in the mid 190s, and a number in the low 190s, but I am fairly confident now that I will no longer get a number in the 200s, and that's huge. I haven't seen numbers in the low 190s since the mid-1990s.